Longevity & AgingWhy This Tiny Fish Is Accelerating the Search for Anti-Aging Interventions
The African turquoise killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri) is gaining traction in longevity research because it ages quickly — completing its full life cycle far faster than mice — while still sharing the vertebrate physiology relevant to human aging. This review examines how the killifish is being used to study key aging mechanisms including gut microbiome changes, nutrient sensing pathways like AMPK and mTOR, metabolic remodeling, temperature effects on lifespan, and germline-soma interactions. Researchers are also deploying advanced genome-engineering tools in this model to identify which tissues drive aging processes. The authors distinguish well-established findings from those still needing mechanistic confirmation, and call for better standardization of methods and cross-species validation to sharpen the model's translational value for human aging research.
